Shelter

Shelter is far from the first film to play on the basic concept of letting sleeping dogs lie, but it does offer slightly more dramatic work for Jason Statham compared to some of his throwaway action sequences. We're introduced to Mason (Statham) living in isolation on a small island in Scotland with this only ties to the outside world being a local fisherman and his niece Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) whose attempts to engage the mysterious stranger are rebuffed every time she brings him supplies.

After an incident causes Mason to look after Jessie, his seclusion is compromised and the former Special Forces assassin goes on the run with Jessie running from the very government he once served led by a vengeful Bill Nighy. While there are a couple of nice scenes between Statham and the kid, it's really just setup for Mason to have someone to protect while fighting off two groups of government agents (one who wants him captured and the other, led by Nighy, who want him dead).

The movie is also saddled with a cumbersome plot of government overreach involving a sophisticated tracking system which, in itself, might have made a subject for its own thriller but is really only included here as window dressing and a necessary deus ex machina to allow for Mason to continue to be tracked. Neither the best nor worst of Statham's oeuvre, fans may have an okay time.

• Title: Shelter
• IMDb: link